Feast Of The Ascension

Miniature from Rabbula Gospels (Mesopotamia, 6th century)

READINGS:

AM Psalm 8, 47; PM Psalm 24, 96
Dan. 7:9-14; Heb. 2:5-18; Matt. 28:16-20

COLLECT:

Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

MadPriest at Of Course, I Could Be Wrong has posted a sermon which he titles "Liberationist Sermon for Ascension Day, May Day and International Workers' Day". That covers all the bases, don't you think? Here are a few excerpts, but please click the link and read the whole sermon.

I love the Church Calendar. The high days and holy days, and especially the seasons of the Church year. They make me feel comfortable and part of something very ancient and which will continue, hopefully, long after I’m gone. Every year the liturgy, attached, as it is, to the calendar of the Church, leads me on a journey which is paradoxically, both, always the same and, if you are open to the Spirit of God, always full of novelty and new experiences.
....

The first season of the church year to evolve was Easter. The feast days of Easter Sunday, Ascension Day and Pentecost have been celebrated for over 1700 years - we don’t know exactly how long because we don’t have the records to give us exact dates. It seems almost certain that the season of Easter ran from Easter Day to Pentecost before 300 A. D. And that is the period of time we keep to today.
....

On Ascension Day, the Church, however you wish to define it, is handed over to us. It is the parting gift of Jesus. With the Church comes adult responsibility but, on the Day of Pentecost we will discover how God will help us take on that responsibility. Easter is not yet over. Hang on in there just a little while longer.
....

There is another theme in today’s commemoration that I would like to draw your attention to as I finish this sermon, as it is a very important them for us. This year, Ascension Day has fallen on the 1st. of May. That’s purely coincidental but it’s also very useful for our education. It is May Day, an ancient festival on which we look forward to the Summer and hope for clement weather that will bring us a bounteous harvest.

If today wasn’t Ascension Day, in the Roman Catholic Church they would be celebrating the feast of Joseph the Worker and it is, most definitely, the International Day of the Worker on which the working people of the world celebrate the fact that they are people of value and when they hope for fairer wages and for precious time to be returned to them to be enjoyed with their families, friends and, in some cases, with their god.

We Christians should celebrate these festivals as well. We should celebrate May Day and pray for a bounteous harvest, especially at this time when how much we’ve messed up our environment is becoming increasingly apparent. We should celebrate with the working people and share their hopes and burdens because Jesus tells us to. But, as Christians, we also have our own hopes, and on this day when we commemorate Christ ascending to his Father, our hope, our great and certain hope, is that he will return to his people to gather in the harvest at the end of days. And our hope, as always, is that he will come soon.

Image from Wiki.

"Mission Accomplished"

Today is the fifth anniversary of George W. Bush's appearance on the aircraft carrier to announce "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq - a milestone, surely.

U.S. Troops Killed: 2003 - 139; 2008 - 4063

U.S. Troops Wounded: 2003 - 542; 2008 - 29,000

From Greg Mitchell at the Huffington Post:

Feel free to dust off all the great quotes from that day, such as Chris Matthews gushing over Bush, "He won the war. He was an effective commander. Everybody recognizes that, I believe, except a few critics." As Bush spoke before the Mission Accomplished banner, American casualties stood at 139 killed and 542 wounded. That was nearly 4000 lives lost ago, and a Rand Corp. study released this month reveals that we now have 300,000 vets with mental problems of some sort.

Just to remind you: The jet landing with Bush emerging in his flight suit and cod piece, it turned out, was a pure stunt. The White House had said that the Abraham Lincoln was too far offshore for the usual helicopter landing, but when the big moment arrived the carrier was only 30 miles off San Diego, an easy trip by copter.

Yes, "a pure stunt". That covers it. At the time, I had a brief quarrel/disagreement with my neighbor, because I said that I thought that Bush looked like a buffoon. My neighbor protested vigorously, saying that it was a great moment for Bush and for the troops and that it would serve to boost their morale immeasurably.



Our president in his great moment.

Preachin' From The Heart

As a young minister in Missouri, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a grave-side service for a homeless man, who had no family or friends. The funeral was to be held at a new cemetery way back in the country, and this man would be the first to be buried there.

I was not familiar with the backwoods area, and I soon became lost. Being a typical man, I did not stop to ask for directions. I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and the open grave, but the hearse was nowhere in sight. The digging crew was eating lunch.

I apologized to the workers for my tardiness, and I stepped to the side of the open grave. There I saw the vault lid already in place. I assured the workers I would not hold them up for long, as I told them that this was the proper thing to do. The workers gathered around the grave and stood silently, as I began to pour out my heart and soul.

As I preached about "looking forward to a brighter tomorrow" and "the glory that is to come," the workers began to say "Amen," "Praise the Lord," and "Glory!" The fervor of these men truly inspired me. So, I preached and I preached like I had never preached before, all the way from Genesis to Revelations. I finally closed the lengthy service with a prayer, thanked the men, and walked to my car.

As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, heard one of the workers say to another, "I ain't NEVER seen nothin' like that before, and I've been puttin' in septic tanks for thirty years."

Posted with gratitude to Lapin.

No, Bishop Robinson

From Jim Naughton at The Lead at the Episcopal Café:

Citing fears of creating a controversy, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury has refused to grant Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the right to preach or preside at the eucharist in England. Robinson received the news in an email yesterday morning.

Sources familiar with the email say Williams cites the Windsor Report and recent statements from the Primates Meeting in refusing to grant Robinson permission to exercise his priestly functions during his current trip to England, or during the trip he plans during the Lambeth Conference in July and August.

The Windsor Report does not discuss the ordination of a candidate in a gay relationship to the priesthood, and it is priestly, rather than episcopal functions that Robinson had sought permission to perform. The primates' statements, similarly, have objected to Robinson's episcopacy, not his priesthood.

Not only is a duly elected and duly consecrated bishop of the Episcopal Church not invited to attend the Lambeth Conference, he is forbidden to exercise his priestly functions while on English soil. This seems harsh.

Does the Archbishop of Canterbury not know that controversy already exists? Does he think that this decision will make the controversy go away? Does he not know that he will further alienate many in the US? Does he not care?

The email, which came to Robinson through a Lambeth official, says Williams believes that giving Robinson permission to preach and preside at the Eucharist would be construed as an acceptance of the ministry of a controversial figure within the Communion.

Perish the thought of a "controversial figure" exercising ministry on English soil. I can't help wondering if Jesus would pass the test. There appears to be some question as to whether the archbishop has the power to to withhold permission, but Bp. Robinson, gentleman that he is, says he would never exercise his ministry without the permission of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It seems rather impolite on the part of the archbishop that the responsibility to answer Bp. Robinson appears to have been delegated to an underling and that it was done by email.

UPDATE: With thanks to IT in the comments at Fr. Jakes' place:

And here's to you, Bishop Robinson,
Jesus loves you more than you will know.
God bless you, please, Bishop Robinson.
Heaven holds a place for those who pray,
Hey, hey, hey

Leroy Goes To A Revival

Leroy goes to a revival meeting and listens to the preacher. After his sermon, the preacher asks anyone with needs a personal prayer to come forward to the front at the altar. Leroy gets in line, and when it's his turn, the preacher asks, "Leroy, what do you want me to pray about for you?"

"Reverend," Leroy replies, "I need you to pray for my hearing."

The preacher puts one finger in Leroy's ear, and he places his other hand on top of Leroy's head. He prays and prays and prays. After several minutes, the preacher removes his hands, smiles, and takes a step back. "Leroy," he asks, loud enough for everybody to hear, "how is your hearing now?"

"I don't know, Reverend," Leroy says. "It ain't till next Wednesday."

Thanks to Doug.

Which Spice Are You?

You are Allspice!

You are the flavour of the Caribbean. You are not, as many think, a mixture of spices; you are your own, very unique, spice. Though you may be found in the company of "jerks," you're actually quite nice and rather good at making foul things seem nice, too.

The Which Spice Are You Test

From Tobias.

Wild And Crazy Wright

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I was going to write again about the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor in case you haven't heard (How could you not have heard, since there have been more than 3000 stories about him?) , but Rmj at Adventus has done such a masterful job of following the story, that I won't even try. I know certain of my readers want it all here, but I must send you over there for the story. He covers all the bases that I would, plus some I'd never have thought of.

From Adventus:

Indeed, I was going to start out saying I think they're actually jealous of Wright, because he refuses to acknowledge the the status quo is "okay," and that politics alone will cure whatever else might ail us. That is certainly not consistent with the stance of a Jerry Falwell or a Pat Robertson, a James Dobson or a John Hagee. As radically right wing as those public preachers might be, they understand one thing that the pundits understand too: the real power is in politics, not the pulpit. Richard Wolffe pointed out on Countdown last night that there is "real tension" between Obama and Wright, tension Wolffe attributed to jealousy on Wright's part. It's a daring leap of psychoanalysis, but a leap of faith TeeVee pundits are quite comfortable with and accustomed to making. After all, everything in politics is about the pursuit of power, and everything that matters in America is political. Right? (My emphasis)

Yes, that's the conventional wisdom. Wright wants to be the main black man, the new Al Sharpton, but Obama is in the way, so Wright is deliberately sabotaging Obama's campaign. Obviously, I'm not joking.

I recommend that you read Rmj's latest post on the subject, too. He writes long, but he writes good. Even the black commentators and columnists are outraged by Wright. Sadly, Obama joins the crowd:

But after watching three days of Mr. Wright’s commentary in televised speeches and interviews, Mr. Obama said, “there are no excuses.”

“They offend me, they rightly offend all Americans and they should be denounced,” he said. “That’s what I am doing very clearly and unequivocally here today.”

Now, Wright is Obama's "former pastor". Excuses for what? This distancing from Wright will not help Obama with those who believe Wright is wild and crazy, and those of us who believe that Wright is one of the sanest men around think less of Obama for it. I know I do.

Here's a little something that Rmj doesn't have. It's from "The Talk of the Town" in the April 28, 2008, issue of The New Yorker (no online link):

Surely she [Hillary Clinton] must remember that when her husband's sex scandals threatened the survival of his Presidency and their marriage, the Clintons summoned the clergy (including, by the way, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright).

If you care to read Wright's wild and crazy speech to the NAACP National Press Club, here's the link at The Atlantic.com

UPDATE: Rmj at Adventus strikes again! Another long post, but another good one. I'll quote the final question from the talk at the National Press Club:

MODERATOR: OK, we are almost out of time.

.... And we’ve got one more question for you.

(APPLAUSE)

We’re going to end with a joke. Chris Rock joked, “Of course Reverend Wright’s an angry 75-year-old black man. All 75-year-old black men are angry.” Is that funny? Is that true? Is it unfortunate? What do you think?

WRIGHT: I think it’s just like the media. I’m not 75.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

[RMJ:] Yeah, nobody made a soundbite out of that, either. Why am I not surprised?

Thought For The Day - Heaven

One of my fantasies of heaven, maybe my only fantasy of heaven, is that it would be like New Orleans at its very best, but with God and the angels and the saints from the ages there. There'd be lots of music, and we'd get to ride the St. Charles Avenue street car every day for free.

UPDATE: Promoted from the comments.

Tobias Haller said...

Delightful. I've enjoyed my visits to New Orleans in the past; this gives me something else to look forward to... Nice to know that not only can the saints march, but they can take the streetcar if they're of a mind to do so.

Innocent Texas Man Free After 27 Years

From the Associated Press:

DALLAS - A man who spent more than 27 years in Texas prisons for a murder he didn't commit is free thanks to DNA test results that clear him of a 1980 murder.

James Lee Woodard walked free Tuesday.

The good news is that Woodard is free. The bad news is that he spent 27 years of his life in prison for a crime he did not commit. Justice Texas style. In truth, justice all over the country and all over the world.

Thank God for science. Thank God for DNA testing.

In Our Quiet Town

From the Daily Comet:

THIBODAUX -- Police are investigating separate, unrelated incidents this afternoon where a 56-year-old man and a 23-year-old mother of two died from gunshot wounds.

Ronald Babin, of 101 Belmont Drive, suffered a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head inside his home, said Lt. Sam Pruitt, spokesman for the Thibodaux Police Department.

Across the bayou on East 2nd Street, Victoria Brown died from a gunshot wound to the upper torso, Pruitt said. Brown's family said she has a 5-year-old son and 1-year-old son.

It is unclear whether Brown's death was a suicide or a homicide, Pruitt added.

The suicide happened a couple of streets over from where I live. The family had asked for Babin to be put in protective custody. He was a former police officer, who had been arrested Saturday for "disturbing the peace, simple assault, simple criminal damage to property and remaining after being forbidden."

In the other death:

Brown's body was located on the bedroom floor next to her bed, Pruitt said. Police located an automatic handgun about one foot from her head, but her hands were not near the gun and police are unclear who the gun belongs to, Pruitt said.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.